Tax return/Tax advisor costs
October 29, 2010 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Dipl.BW/SB Ulrich Stiller
Dear Sir or Madam,
my father passed away in September of last year. My mother received the usual widow's pension as well as the occupational supplementary pension.
Capital life insurances were paid out, which were higher than the funeral costs.
The preliminary calculation now resulted in a significant tax payment.
Now my questions:
- Is it correct that, from a tax perspective, the joint assessment for the entire last year still applies, meaning that my mother is still considered married? Therefore, would the widow's pension not be considered as additional income for my mother, but rather as joint income with my father in the last year?
- Will the reimbursements from the life insurances be offset against the funeral costs?
In general, I would like to inquire about the pricing of a tax advisor. Specifically, for the year before last, the bill was the same as for the last year, even though the effort and the reimbursement/payment amount were significantly different.
How much would it cost to have the forms filled out by the tax advisor reviewed?
Yours sincerely,
B.
Dear Client,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I would like to answer based on the information you provided and in the context of your situation in a preliminary consultation as follows:
For the year 2009, the year in which your father passed away, joint taxation can still be carried out if this method is more favorable than separate taxation. The requirement for joint taxation is that the spouses lived together for at least 1 day in 2009. The splitting table is used for joint taxation.
In the context of the so-called "widow or grace splitting", the splitting table will also apply for the year 2010 if your parents were unrestricted income taxpayers on the day of death and were not permanently separated on the day of death in September 2009, and if your mother does not remarry in 2010.
Therefore, under the aforementioned conditions, your mother will be treated as if she were married to your father until December 31, 2010 for the years 2009 and 2010.
Life insurance payouts are tax-free if they had a term of more than 12 years and were taken out before January 1, 2005.
The fee for tax advisors is determined by the Tax Advisory Fee Regulation (StBGebV). Tax advisors are bound by this regulation.
Generally, value fees apply for the preparation of tax returns. They are based on the value of the interest.
There is a fee range for the preparation of tax returns, which for the preparation of the income tax return - without determining the individual income - according to § 24 (1) no. 1 is between 1/10-6/10. The sum of income is considered the value of the interest here. For example, if the sum of income is 30,000 euros, the tax advisor can charge a net fee of 75.80 euros to 454.80 euros using Table A. There are also separate fees for preparing the attachments to the income tax return, with a fee range as well.
For the review of the tax return forms and the assessment, please feel free to contact me at my email address StillerStB@gmx.de or by phone at 07152/23331.
I hope I could be of assistance to you initially.
Best regards,
Ulrich Stiller
Tax Advisor/Qualified Business Economist
